I would think that gated with Dominican or other Latino neighbors would be your best bet. Security was never a worry for us at our place and it was all Dominican except for a few Venezuelans and 2 Colombian families.

I just moved out of that sh*thole Gurabo on Saturday and into a barrio right next to the bridge here in Santiago. I prefer this type of environment over the type that give a false sense of security. I have recently learned there are many
Dominican men who live in Santiago who donīt have the nerve to speak up or put their foot down when it is necessary. I refuse to live around those people any longer.
We have a word for people like that where I come from....

Last edited by CristoRey; 12-15-2015 at 10:32 AM.
Reason: NO COFFEE YET

Have always chosen apts to live in. I travel a lot and leaving a house solo would be bad idea unless it was very secured. I have rented apts in Isabelita, La Moneda, Ciudad Nuevo, Gazcue, Pedregal and Bella Vista.
Was robbed in ciudad nuevo and gazcue. Both times there was construction on same street. Many dominicans have told me to be careful as guys on roofs, cranes and scaffolds can easily case the place. One time they just forced balcony door open. The other time they crow barred one of the metal bars on the balcony and had a kid squeeze through.

Pedregal was "gated" but there was also a plaza attached and too many people coming and going. We moved in when brand new, then it went to crap in tow years so we bailed. That is why I have not bought.
In current place it is an apt building. Hard to call torre if it is 9-10 floors. Parking has porton, reception 24-7. They don't show that they are armed, but they sort of wink.

Intercom entry only. If someone got into building, getting into apt would be tough. Gates and dead bolts from inside. I noticed guest bedroom window had signs of prying on one side. Window opens both ways so the 2x4 behind sliding window trick doesn't work.
Had a guy come in and drill holes in the sliding windows and we slide a pin in so they won't open. They would have to crow bar, or cut the bars outside, then break a window. Theoretically that would alert the receptionist/ watchy.

I also think apartments can be safer although if the block is too big you do not know if a person is living there or burglaring there.. I also had a child lowered down from the roof to try to get through iron bars on windows but he got stuck and could not get back to the roof and he left so many imprints from his soles on his tennis shoes on the wall , that the neighbours found him quite soon after.

There is how safe one FEELS and then there is how safe one REALLY IS. These are often quite different.
There are statistics about reported burglaries in some places. I have been told that my neighborhood is unsafe and there are even some peple who will not visit me because of this. The reality is that in 37 years, I have had my house broken into once (losing about $300 in stuff) and my car broken into once (by a fool who could not figure out how to get the radio out).

Its kind of hard to explain, because while you're IN the barrio at night eating a chimi or fritura, it's not that dangerous, it becomes dangerous when you get out of there and 2 motorcyclist from that same barrio follow you. But that only applies to some barrios, mainly small ones that are really close to middle class neighborhoods. Like the one in Evaristo Morales in "Roberto Pastoriza St." for example. Thats a litteral rathole and it's only one block.

I have lived in nothing but apartments in Santo Domingo and Juan Dolio since 2007 and have not had a single problem of any type. I always selected units high in the building yet never heard of any problems on lower floors either. I'm now looking for a Penthouse in Santo Domingo and will be spending most of my time in the city. I feel that this arrangement (Penthouse) in a tall building in an upscale area of the city is the safest way to live in the country. I travel a lot and am out of the country so this type of building is ideal for me and offers me the highest feeling of security.